PROVIDENCE, R.I. – McNeese made it known since Selection Sunday its appearance in the NCAA Tournament would be all business.
 
On Thursday, the 12^th-seeded Cowboys took care of business against No. 5 Clemson, leading for all of two minutes in the game in a 69-67 game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated, and capturing the program's first-ever March Madness win in its 52-year history since becoming a Division I program.
 
McNeese will play Purdue on Saturday in the Round of 32 and for the rights to advance to next week's Sweet 16. Game time will be announced late Thursday night.
 
The win was the 12^th-straight for McNeese, who improves to 28-6 on the season. Clemson, ranked No. 12 and 13 in the polls, ends its season at 27-7 following the first-ever matchup between the two programs. It was also the first win over an ACC opponent in six games all-time. It's the first-ever win for the Cowboys against a ranked opponent while head coach Will Wade captured win No. 50 as the McNeese leader.
 
Brandon Murray scored a season-high 21 points, 14 of those in the first half, while Quadir Copeland added 16 with five assists. Christian Shumate recorded the 40^th double-double of his career with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Sincere Parker contributed with 12 points.
 
McNeese dominated the inside against the much larger Tigers, holding a 43-36 advantage in rebounds including 18-13 on the offensive glass, and held a 44-24 advantage with points in the paint.
 
The Cowboys dominated the first half, rolling out to a 31-13 lead marking just the second time a team seeded fifth or better to score 13 points or fewer in the first half of an NCAA Tournament game in the shot clock era (since 1986).
 
Clemson, who had two players score in the 20s – Jaeden Zackery with 24 and Chase Hunter 21, led 6-4 following a Zackery layup with 15:59 to play in the first half.
 
McNeese followed with Murray starting an 8-0 McNeese run with back-to-back buckets and accounted for six of the eight points and the Cowboys led 12-6 with 11:12 remaining.
 
A basket by Clemson made it 12-8 but Murray got another run started with an offensive rebound tip-in. Shumate then wowed the crowd with his second Shu Slam of the game followed by a Parker 3 and Copeland jumper as the lead grew to 23-8 following an 11-0 run to the 6:57 mark.
 
Murray gave McNeese its largest lead at 18 points with a layup to make it 29-11then another jumper in the paint with 36 seconds to play to give the Cowboys an 18-point halftime lead.
 
The 13 points were the least amount scored by Clemson in a half this season while the 18-point deficit was the largest at the half on the season.
 
McNeese didn't let up in the second half and used a 9-0 run to build a 40-16 lead with 16:14 to play. Shumate accounted for five of those points off a put-back dunk and a three-pointer. The lead maintained around the 20-15 margin to the under 4-minute timeout.
 
Clemson came out of the break by turning up the defensive pressure but McNeese did a good job escaping it for the most part. Shumate closed the door with his fourth Shu Slam of the game with an emphatic one-handed dunk to give McNeese a 12-point lead at 65-53 with 1-minute on the clock.
 
The Tigers made the game interesting by knocking down late 3s, but McNeese kept the distance by knocking down key free throws when it mattered.
 
McNeese shot 44 percent for the game (27-62) but connected on just 4 of 19 (21 percent) from three-point range. Meanwhile, Clemson hit 37% for the game (21-57) and made only 21 percent in the first half. The Tigers made 9 of 30 from 3-point range but only hit three of those in the first half and four in the final minute of the game.
 
The Cowboys scored 19 points off 13 Clemson turnovers and scored 16 second chance points off the 18 offensive rebounds.